let me finish tonight with this. the obama administration has found a way to offer birth control to women who want it without infringing on religious belief. it's a victory for the president and roman catholics. how do we ensure that women get birth control? how do we ensure that religious institutions aren't forced to pay for it? access to stand-alone-coverage. changes where they will put their policies on sale. the key here is it gets around a pair of goals that were in conflict, are not anymore. one goal is to reduce dramatically the number of unwanted pregnancies. regular use of birth control is one way that works. in this case, the catholic church is protected from having to pay for birth control

insurance. my own idea is the solution the obama reached is win-win. getting birth control to women for free will help to make it free. to keep the catholic church out of that transaction makes it no less beneficial to the goal of averting unwanted pregnancies. and with them in many cases, the decision to have an abortion. this is what good, smart, progressive morally upright politics is all about. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" from new york. president obama is tackling tough issues. but all the beltway wants to talk about is skeet shooting at camp david? this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> our law enforcement officers should never be outgunned on the streets. >> the president pounds away on gun safety as shiny objects

dominate the beltway media coverage. >> how often does the president go skeet shooting? and are there photographs of him doing so? >> tonight, i'll take the fourth estate to task for missing the big picture with katrina vanden heuvel of the nation and msnbc's richard wolffe. plus, minneapolis mayor r.t. rybak on how he is lowering gun violence in his city, and how he thinks senate majority leader harry reid needs to get to work on guns. the boy scouts are getting ready to end their policy of discrimination against gays, and the president is standing with them. >> should scouting be open to gays? >> yes. >> i'll tell you how conservatives are fighting the process. it's the super bowl commercial everybody is talking about. >> god looked down on his planned paradise and said i need a caretaker. so god made a farmer. >> god created the family farmer. i'll tell you how republicans are destroying them.

all that plus e.j. dionne, karen finney and jonathan alter on why conservatives are actually trying to blame the super bowl blackout on the president. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching there is a major development on gun legislation today, but there is a good chance you haven't heard about it. president obama continued the push for common sense gun reform today in minneapolis. he was surrounded by law enforcement officers with the city and the state. the president asked americans to stand with the men and women in the line of fire. >> weapons of war have no place on our streets or in our schools or threatening our law enforcement officers. our law enforcement officers should never be outgunned on the streets. >> the president has outlined a full list of proposals to curb gun violence in america. very quietly, many of those proposals are picking up steam

on capitol hill. senate majority leader harry reid said he expects a bill will soon move to the senate floor. the package will include a universal background check, a capacity limit on ammunition magazines, and improvements to record-keeping on mental illness. a universal background check is in sight. this is probably what they're really going to get. advocacy groups are trying to build momentum. last night, this ad from mayors against illegal guns aired during the super bowl. >> the nra once supported background checks. >> we think it's reasonable to provide mandatory instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. no loopholes anywhere for anyone. >> america can do this. for us. >> opponents of a background check rely on fearmongering. nra chief wayne lapierre spread ridiculous lies on fox news sunday. >> what they'll do is they'll turn this universal check on the law abiding into a universal

registry of law-abiding people. and law-abiding people don't want that. >> well, law-abiding people want a universal background check system. more than nine in ten gun households want one. more than eight in ten nra member says the same thing. the president is quick to point out the popularity of the law. >> we know for example from polling that universal background checks are universally supported just about. by gun others. the overwhelming majority of gunowners think that's a good idea. so if we have lobbyists in washington claiming to speak for gun owners saying something different we need to go to the source and reach out to people directly. we can't allow those filters to get in the way of common sense. >> the gun lobby is worried. the president is making headway on this issue, which is why his opponents insist on distracting the country with things like this. the white house released a photo

of president obama skeet shooting while at camp david in august. in fact, it was on his birthday. the gun lobby wants everyone to be talking about this photo. and the press, what are they doing? they're playing right along with it. this all started when the new republic released a wide ranging interview with the president. but the focus has been on this exchange. the president was asked directly, have you ever fired a gun? he answered directly, yes. in fact, up at camp david, we do skeet shooting all the time. the answer created a frenzy in the washington media. >> how often does the president go skeet shooting, and are is there photographs of him doing so? >> i would refer you simply to his comments. i don't know how often. he does go to camp david with some regularity, but i'm not sure often he has done that. >> if s there a photograph of him doing it? >> there may be, but i haven't seen it. >> why haven't we heard about it before? >> because when he goes to camp david, he goes to spend time with his family and friends and

relax, not to produce photographs. >> that's what the american people want to know. that's really what they want to know. all these issues on the table, it's how many, how often, where, does he really? jay carney's answer is never going to be good enough, because it's about president obama. the "washington post" wrote more than 1300 words fact checking the president's answer. they wrote, "we are eager to see a photograph or hear from someone who saw him at the skeet range to put this matter to rest." of course, fox news was quick to keep the fire raging all week long. so the white house, all right, they went along with it. they released a photograph. now what do you think? instead of ending the conversation, the press forced it even more. focused on it even more. now, the "washington post" was on defense. basically, all statements by public figures are subject to scrutiny. the president made an unexpected claim. and for nearly a week the white

house refused to back it up. but in the end, they concluded the issue is settled. not according to the white house press corps. these are some of the questions jay carney was asked during his media availability today. why release the photo now? was the president shooting skeet or trap? does he ever shoot weapons -- or did he ever shoot weapons before he was president? did he ever shoot weapons elsewhere? will you release photos of friends or family or guests? carney responded, "the fact is that the president was asked a question. he did not volunteer, but was

a lifetime of supporting every gun ban, every gun control scheme imaginable. the washington press has a responsibility to ask the president tough questions about things affecting all americans. a photo of the president shooting skeet does not affect gun laws one bit. it only distracts from the major issues at hand. so the bottom line come downs to this. the smiles are great at the press conferences with jay carney, but is this really what the american people are concerned about, what the president does on his free time at camp david? and does he always have to step forward with some evidence that he has told the truth to reporters? and this is just a big demand coming from the washington media that he has to show this photo so everybody will believe that he really has touched a gun and fired a gun and has some noise cancelling headsets on.

kind of parallels the birthers, doesn't it? we won't believe it until we see it and still won't believe it after we see it. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. does the beltway media have america's best interest at heart? text "a" for yes and "b" for no. here is the new number. 67622. i have to learn how to say that fast. a new text number. it is now 67622. you can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. i'll bring results later in the program. i'm joined tonight by katrina vanden heuvel and richard wolffe, the executive editor of msnbc.com and an msnbc political analyst. great to have both of you with us tonight. i've never seen a picture get so much attention, except when dick cheney shot somebody in the face, which the president hasn't done. katrina, is the press being negligent when we start getting

down to the serious conversation of background checks that they're focusing on stuff like this? >> yeah, i think we're looking at inside the beltway media malpractice. it's not new, ed. i'm thinking we're on the tenth anniversary of iraq, and much of the press played stenographers to power, not an accountability watchdog media which we need. this skeet shooting incident has nothing to do, it's utterly irrelevant with the actual policy proposals now under debate. so you have to ask yourself, who does the media inside the beltway think it's representing? we've seen these problems before. the country is worried about joblessness. inside the beltway, the media keeps pushing the president on debt and deficits. i'd like to know also, i don't think of the fundamental issues confronting this country. but on the gun issue, why wasn't there a single question about the 15-year-old chicago girl, hadiya pendleton, who marched in the parade in the inauguration and was gunned down, the 42nd victim of gun violence in

chicago in january. that might be relevant to the issue of how do you stop trafficking of illegal weapon, and relevant to the actual policy debates under way in this country. >> richard, why does inside the beltway media have a propensity to focus on things that people don't care about? >> look, i've been part of that press corps. i was there in the time in the run-up to the war in iraq. but as a pack, as a pack mentality, this is a game. look, the war in iraq was serious. don't get me wrong. but we're talking about kids in america who were killed and how to respond to that. and so, you know, the disjoint between this photo, what the president does in his leisure time, whether it's real or not, how often he does it, and the cold, hard facts of american children being killed by assault weapons in our schools, that seems to be -- we didn't know where issue would go. i'm not trying to make any excuses for how the press corps behaved. but we have two very compelling stories here.

one of them is actually about children dying and how you respond to that. and the other is about a photo. so i actually think they have kind of disappeared into their own world and their own competitive desires, which is let's have some fun with this. let's get some clicks and let's have something that is shareable. people love that photo. but at the heart, if you're going to hold people accountable, if the "washington post" is true to its word, you hold public officials accountable not for a random comment, but for their policy, for the effects of their policy. that is what the job of the press circumstances there has to be a sense of an accountability media. and i think too often, and it comes from the top too when we face corporations where the news enterprise is a small cog in the system, that you're witnessing sometimes the obliteration of the line between news and entertainment. that's why there was more attention to beyonce was she lip-synching or not than to perhaps some of the issues and policies in the president's inaugural address, kim kardashian's baby bump. those kind of issues take too much of our time when we should

be talking about the crises facing our country. and two often the beltway media follows power, doesn't raise the tough questions that people in a democracy deserve to hear. we need to learn more about what is going on with the gun debate. and by the way, the president going to minneapolis, i think is very important. because he needs to get outside of d.c. and press his message, as he did in las vegas with immigration, as he did today in minneapolis. a city which has seen a drop of youth gun violence by 41%. and those optics of law enforcement behind him. he knows he needs to know what he didn't do effectively as much post-2008. get out of the beltway. >> that's where he is most effective, there is no question about that. but here we are on the verge of trying to get something done. and the media is focusing on the president skeet shooting instead of the president talking about universal background checks and will harry reid actually bring the assault weapons ban to the floor.

some real heavy stuff. >> but we've seen this before. the serious policy debates don't get the coverage they deserve. but the president can drive it more. and media, like the nation or msnbc can try to amplify the serious messages that need to be heard, the serious policy, the serious accountability journals that needs to be heard if there is going to be some advance. >> let's just be clear here, okay. so say the president gets the background checks that we all assume that is going to be there. and if wayne lapierre thought it was a good deal once, then maybe he'll think ultimately it's a good deal again. but that wouldn't have stopped this particular shooting in newtown. however, the high capacity magazines, that's where the press needs to ask the questions. is the president willing to go out, stick his neck out on the line for this and say this is what his administration really cares about. that's where, you know, there is real journalism to be done in terms of what the white house strategy is. >> closing the gun show loophole would be a big step forward

because that's 40% of the sales in this country. obviously, the background checks, the magazine, all of that stuff, you know, people's lives are definitely been lost because of some things have slipped through the cracks. we can do a better job. yet, we're focusing on the president skeet shooting. i find it amazing. great to have both of you with us tonight, katrina vanden heuvel and richard wolffe. share your thoughts with us on twitter, ed show and facebook. we want to know what you think. coming up, president obama tries to offer solutions, but the nra mouthpiece wayne lapierre keeps throwing up roadblocks. and in minneapolis they have reduced crimes by 40%. r.t. rybak joins us.

randy does a heck of a job mocking the superdome blackout on twitter, and the republicans use it to attack the president's unreasonable panel. and president obama's evolution on gay rights continues while republicans claim there is a war on scouts. we'll have the latest on the boy scouts' big decision on gay members later. you can listen to my radio show at sirius xm radio channel 127

monday through friday, noon to 3:00 p.m. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using the hash tag edshow. we're coming right back. testosterone to his underarm. axiron, the only underarm treatment for low t, can restore testosterone levels back to normal in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet, or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count,

headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. see your doctor, and for a 30-day free trial, go to axiron.com. welcome back to "the ed show." today president obama pushed for solutions to gun violence by taking his ideas for common sense measures to minneapolis, which has had huge success on the issue. >> this city came together. you launched a series of youth initiatives that have reduced the number of young people injured by guns by 40%. >> this week, then, we learned of another high profile senseless killing.

former navy s.e.a.l. chris kyle and another man, chad littlefield were killed saturday at a gun range in texas. the two men had taken a veteran former marine eddie ray routh to the gun range, and routh allegedly shot both of them. routh reportedly has a recent history of mental illness and is in police custody on a suicide watch. the gun lobbyist self-appointed mouthpiece wayne lapierre was asked about the latest tragedy. >> you fix the mental health system. every police officer knows people on the street that should be institutionalized because we've emptied our institutionalized. they're out there walking around on the street. we need to change our civil commitment laws. we need to change the mental health system, fund it, get it to work, get tease people into treatment. we're not doing that. i would like to see the mental health records computerized, but we can't even get that done. >> it's a fraud to call

universal. it's never going to be universal. the criminals aren't going to comply with it. they could care less. you're not going to computerize -- you've seen you're got stopgap to computerize the mental health records. so we're is what is going to happen. we ought to quit calling it right now universal check. the real title ought to be the check on law-abiding people all over this country. >> al know lapierre fully supported background checks in 1999. >> let's talk what is reasonable and what is not. we think it's reasonable to provide mandatory instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. no loopholes anywhere for anyone. >> the solutions for these tragedies aren't always simple, but it doesn't mean we should be giving up. joining me now is r.t. rybak, mayor of minneapolis. great to have you with us tonight, r.t. i appreciate you coming in on this subject. it's so vitally important. >> i'm thrilled you're covering it, ed. >> you bet.

president obama praised the efforts of your city. how did you do it? how were you able to impact the youth violence in minneapolis? >> the minneapolis model for reducing gun violence was really especially about young people. we focused on at the whole community together, 32-point plan that was really tied to surrounding young people with trusted adults and intervening at the first sign of at-risk behavior. and we worked the plan and worked the plan and worked the plan. 40% decrease in juvenile crime is a huge impact. but one of the reasons the president was here was to say that was good work. but one of the reasons we wanted him here was to say it's not enough. we need common sense laws. because i've been at too many homicides with a mom and a kid who is dead and trying to explain where did that gun come from. and there are laws that the police and the federal officials can't share information there are laws that say mental health records can't be computer sized. change those laws. fix that, and help us bring a

little more peace to the streets. >> where are we right now? i bring you forward on this subject. you understand you were critical of harry reid today. sheer senate majority leader harry reid. i want you to respond to this. >> have i said to senator leahy, i want a bill to come out of the committee. if dianne feinstein by the time it's through the judiciary committee, if she doesn't have her assault weapons, at least let her have an opportunity to offer this amendment. >> will you vote for it? >> oh,i don't know. frankly, and she knows, i haven't read her amendment. i didn't vote for the assault weapons last time because it didn't make sense. but i'll take a look at it. >> mayor, is senator reid doing enough to move this legislation? >> i believe he should read the amendment and listen to a former mayor, dianne feinstein, who stuck her finger in a bullet hole at a scene of a crime. that's what we see as mayors. in washington assault ban weapon, it's a political issue. here is how it sounds to me. my daughter will be teaching school next year.

if somebody is in the horrible situation of shooting in that classroom, and they're forced to reload the gun, that may be my daughter's life, that may be your child's life. force people to reload. my god, if we can't do that, it's horrible enough about what is happening out here. stop and think about it. when you hear a assault weapons ban, don't think about what they're talking in washington. think about forcing people to reload so we can walk back at least a few lives in mass murder. my god, isn't that enough? >> so you're saying that in washington, the assault weapons ban is political. would you go so far as to say that the lobbyists are intimidating the lawmakers? the lawmakers know what to do, they just won't do it? >> well, i'm a politician. a lot of things are political. but what does seem to happen is there is this whole thing like oh, gee, the nra is going to unelect me. by the way, they lost most of their elections. they lost their number one goal, which is to stop president obama. so let's get away from this idea that everything we do has to be because we're afraid of the nra. are there are lots of good nra members, and they're law-abiding

citizens. their leaders are seemingly out of control. and what we need to do is to have people get a backbone and say that yeah, it is right to not have our police outgunned. yes, it is right to say that if we have the option between a shooting and a mass murder, we should choose, my god, the least of those hideous things. that's the kind of common sense we need people to have, and guts we need them to have. and by the way, if you're afraid of the nra, i want you to talk to some of the real lobbyists out here, the people who have been victims, whose families have lost people. they're by the thousands now in this country, and they're multiplying every day. you want to see a lobby that is going to be on your case if you don't take action? we got them all over this country. >> but why isn't harry reid being stronger, in your opinion? you heard his answer there. he said he didn't vote for it before. doesn't sound like he is going to vote for it again. isn't this a moment for leadership? if the majority of americans want this, shouldn't the senate majority leader step up and say you know what? we got to move in this

direction. >> i don't think harry reid is the only problem. the problem is that folks in washington have calculated that they think it's bad politics to be for banning weapons and clips that force you to reload. they think that's bad politics. and i think their calculation is just wrong. i think it's good politics. and my god, it's the right thing to do. >> mayor r.t. rybak, good to have you with us on "the ed show." thank you so much. coming up, chrysler ran a great super bowl ad this year praising the american family farmer. but farms will be in danger if congress fails to pass a farm bill. i'll have the details for you coming up. and who killed the likes of the super bowl? right-wingers have their theories. jonathan alter, karen finney and e.j. dionne will weigh in on that. stay with us. we'll be right back with "the ed show." [ male announcer ] no matter what city

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welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. you know, some voices just stop you in your tracks and command attention. last night, america was treated to a two-minute commercial about the american small farmer, voiced by the deceased radio icon paul harvey. harvey was the voice of middle america for 51 years. chrysler used a 1978 speech by paul harvey that he gave to the future farmers of america to highlight their new ram trucks. here is the rest of the story. >> and on the eighth day, god looked down on his planned paradise and said i need a caretaker.

so god made a farmer. it had to be somebody who would plow deep and straight and not cut corners, somebody to feed, weed, seed, brake and lou and strain the milk, somebody who would bale a family together with the soft, strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh and then reply with smiling eyes when his son says that he wants to spend his life doing what dad does. so god made a farmer. >> that writing, that distinct delivery. spectacular ad, no doubt about it. but unfortunately, being a family farmer in america is a dying profession. you can thank republicans for their decline. in 1935, there were 6.8 million farms in america. today the number has dropped to just over two million. and out of the remaining farms, most are struggling to stay in business.

out of the 2.2 million farms in operation, 1.9 million are small family farms. small family farms make up, what? 87% of total farms in the united states, but they produce only 15% of the total crop value. on the other hand, very large family farms and corporate farms bring in the remaining 85% of corporate profit in the industry. meanwhile, small family farms are always, i guess you could say, one disaster away from extinction. one in four of these farms make less than $50,000 a year. if a drought or any disaster hits, these small farms don't have a chance. but large farms and corporate farms can take a hit from time to time. this is why it's so important for congress to do its part to protect the family farmer. it starts i guess with the farm bill. price supports and disaster

relief very important, are things that will only keep the family farms in business in tough times. the senate passed their version of the farm bill last session, but as expected, john boehner's do nothing house sat on the bill. and now it will have to be redone in the 113th congress. boehner doesn't need a single democratic vote to pass this thing. he has the majority. if he is for the american farmer, if he is for the heartland, he ought to bring the farm bill to the floor for a vote. but he refuses to do that. i hope john boehner and the rest of the house republicans watch chrysler's ad and understand what it means. farmers helped build america, and are vital to our future success as a nation. if small family farms get into trouble, they deserve help from the government. chrysler did another fantastic job this year with their ad. they are providing and proving again what american exceptionalism is all about. there is a lot more to come in

the next half hour of the "ed show." stay with us. >> uh-oh, we lost lights. >> when the lights went out in new orleans, you knew it was just a matter of time until republicans started blaming president obama. jonathan alter, e.j. dionne and karen finney on the politics of the big game is next. plus, the right-wing freak-out to the president's latest endorsement of equality. >> should scouting be open to gays? >> yes. and first it was a miracle in the desert. now ohio's radical republican governor is actually coming around on obama care. we'll explain john kasich's liberal conversion ahead. goi, but when you wake up in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medicine

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million americans watched a stadium full of football fans sit in the dark. super bowl xlvii will probably be best remembered as the game where the lights went out. where does don meredith when we needed him? and now officials are trying to figure out just what the heck happened. the nfl has ruled out beyonce as the culprit. the entertainer used her own generators for the halftime show. and superdome authorities say that a substation detected an abnormality and automatically cut power. but at this point that's all they know. fortunately, conservatives have a few theorys of their own. many right-wingers took to twitter and social media blew up, and of course blaming the obama administration, pointing to this department of energy press release detailing the city of new orleans embracing of energy efficiency. "the daily caller" writing "what is more energy-efficient than darkness? green is the new blackout." this tweet from herman cain, the department of energy wanted you to know that last night's super bowl was the greatest -- or the

greenest ever. then the lights went out. from a "wall street journal" columnist, "super bowl xlvii is brought to you by solyndra." and from laura ingraham, "how long before we hear from the white house about the need for another multibillion stimulus to rebuild the power grid?" and donald trump, "the country is being run just like the stadium." meanwhile, former bush administration fema director michael brown -- you know brownie, who spent days ignoring what was going on in the superdome during hurricane katrina -- used the blackout to comment not on infrastructure, but on the residents of new orleans. "someone just told me there was fighting going on in new orleans superdome. #shocked." let's bring in our panel tonight. jonathan alter with us, bloomberg view, msnbc political analyst karen finney, and also "washington post" e.j. dionne. well, sometimes the right just doesn't take a rest on anything.

i was absolutely surprised to hear from brownie last night during the super bowl. who would have ever thought it? e.j., what was most surprising when it was all unfolding to you? >> well, first of all, i mean i'm just shocked that brownie wanted to get out there on anything having to do with new orleans. i just want to turn it around a little and say that my super bowl mvps are the electricians, the technicians and other workers who got those lights back on in a half hour, a little over a half an hour. i mean, we don't realize or think much about how much we depend on folks like that until we really need them. but in terms of these other explanations, i am just surprised that the right hasn't yet blamed beyonce for being a secret partner of solyndra. i mean, what are they going to come up with? >> the other point here is that, karen, they just never miss an opportunity to go after the president and degrade him, do they? >> that's right. and remember, beyonce was a

supporter of the president. so i'm sure if there is some way to pin it back on her, they will figure it out. but sure. any opportunity to blame the president. and frankly, the tweets that you just shared distract from what is a very real conversation that we should be having about the power grid, about infrastructure in this country. that's not a conversation they want to have. >> jonathan, your thoughts on how it all unfolded in the aftermath. >> you know, i kept being struck by why they didn't let the players warm up before they resumed play. they were risking injury. fortunately, there were not any injuries as a result. but it's standard in those situations to give them some warm-up time. then i realized money talks. you know, the advertisers obviously did not want to have any longer of a delay. there was so many -- there was so much money at stake that they were willing to risk injuries to resume the game. >> these guys are professionals. they know how to get ready. i was rather entertained by all the conversation about oh, how

is this going to affect them psychologically? who has the advantage? finally it got back to phil simms and he said you know what? they're professionals. they know how to handle this. i tweeted out, "thank you, phil simms". >> the 49ers had a huge psychological advantage after the blackout. it was really peculiar. they put all these points on the board right away. so sometimes these things can mark kind of a psychological break point in the momentum of a game. and the ravens went on to win. but they almost lost. >> i was sort of intrigued by the idea that nobody thought -- half the lights were on, and yet the thought of potentially, i don't know, continuing without all of the sort of bells and whistles that we have become so accustomed to was not each an idea on the table. >> the super bowl didn't have a light backup plan. i mean, come on, america! i mean -- >> you know, this is only the kind of thing that nerds, political nerds like us would say. but the only comparable situation i can remember when the whole world was watching was

in 1976 when jimmy carter and gerald ford were debating, and they had this blackout, this technical problem. and for several minutes, they just stood there on the stage. and 100 million americans just stood by until the debate resumed. >> well, i got to ask the question whom. came out with the momentum after the lights went out? i can't remember that one. >> i think carter. he went on to win the election. >> but the 49ers and the ravens handled the blackout better i think than carter in florida did that night. >> we've got to commercial. e.j., your thoughts on paul harvey's voice being used on the future farmers of america and of course selling trucks. and we know landscape in america and life has changed so much in rural america. what did you make of this? >> i loved the ad. in fact, i thought what it reminded me of was the clint eastwood ad for chrysler. and the advantage they have is paul harvey is not going to come back with a chair at a republican convention. but i thought it was a beautiful

ad. you almost expected to hear john cougar mellencamp's old songs that we used to sing at farm aid concerts is what i was thinking as i was watching. >> was there a political message there at all, do you think, karen? >> i do, actually. as it was playing, sort of thinking there is a slice of america that we're losing. i mean, you talked than, frankly, just before this segment. and there are very real reasons why family farmers and small farmers are struggling in this country. and, you know, there were beautiful images and things we should be very proud of in terms of the american ethic of hard work and all of that. and yet we're not taking care of those values and not cherishing those values and doing the things we can to preserve that in the ways that i think we could be. >> jonathan, what about the ad the mayors against illegal guns took out? effective? your thoughts. >> yeah, i think it was effective. you know, this is a long twilight struggle, as jfk said

about the cold war. this issue is not going to be resolved soon. it's not just about whether there is an assault weapons ban, whether this piece of legislation that comes up is as complete as you and i would like it to be. liberals and common sense supporters of gun safety need to look at it in the long-term. and the mayors are playing an important role, but they need more people. >> yeah. >> like those in the farm ad in the chrysler ad. those folks to get involved to really make change on guns. >> jonathan alter, karen finney, e.j. dionne, great to have you with us tonight. thank you so much. ohio governor john kasich says yes to medicaid expansion. his republican resistance to obama care beginning to weaken. stay tuned.

we love hearing from our viewers on facebook and on twitter. many of you are talking about the white house photo of president obama skeet shooting at camp david. on facebook, sandy writes, "at

least he didn't shoot his friend's face off during a hunting trip." that could never happen, could it. chris says "now that righties have seen obama with a gun, they'll want to repeal the second amendment." and brian lafferty writes "president obama is a straight shooter. he is always proving the right wrong." you can go to our facebook page right now and join the conversation. and don't forget to like the ed show when you're there. we like that. still to come, the boy scouts consider lifting their ban on gay members, and conservatives are calling it a war on scouts. i'll have the details coming up. stay with us.

welcome back to "the ed show." today ohio governor john kasich broke ranks with the republican party's unified objections to all things obama care and said that he will push to expand medicaid under the affordable care act. >> now, i, as you all know here, am not a supporter of obama care.

but i think this makes great sense for the state of ohio. and it makes great sense for the state of ohio because i think it will allow us to deliver care using our dollars to people who up until now haven't even been able to afford a care through their job or they weren't able to even find a job, and they're extremely poor. >> so he is not a fan of it, but he is going to good ahead and do it. okay. kasich is the fifth republican governor to make the case for medicaid expansion. and supposed obama care opponent has reason that sounds surprisingly liberal. currently, one out of every five ohioans is on medicaid expansion, and it would make an estimated 365,000 additional ohioans eligible for coverage beginning in 2014, reduce the financial burden on community and rural hospitals, which currently provide uncompensated care. and the bottom line here is

this. it makes fiscal sense. the federal government would pay for 100% of the cost of newly eligible enrollees for the first three years, dropping to 90% by 2020. governor kasich is smart, which is why he has accepted the political reality president obama has been reelected, obama care is here to stayed, and medicaid expansion is the responsible thing to do, no question about it. suddenly, instead of selling himself as a tea party approved budget hawk, kasich is playing the part of the compassionate conservative. kasich knows that running for reelection in a purple state requires a more subtle approach. kasich's fell republicans may cry foul, but any reasonable person should be celebrating this step in the right direction. whatever the motivation. tonight in our survey i asked does the beltway media have america's best interest at heart? 5% of you say yes. 95% of you say no. coming up, they call it the

war on boy scouts. find out which conservatives should get a merit badge from fearmongering. stay tuned.

and in the big finish tonight, conservatives are freaking out about what they believe is the end of an american institution. they're worried the boy scouts of america could allow gay members. last night the president weighed in on it. >> should scouting be open to gays? >> yes.

>> why so? >> because i think my altitude is gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does. >> major corporate sponsors want to lift the boy scouts ban on gay membership. the national executive board could vote this wednesday to lift the national gay ban and allow local troops to make their own decisions. rick santorum calls it a war on scouts. he says the board is abandoning the organization's founding moral principles. the former presidential candidate thinks it's a challenge to the scouts' very nature, and there the left is trying to remove god. santorum also predicts every troop will get sued, or members will just simply leave. santorum calls this the end of scouting and says, quote, i hope the board of the scouts doesn't have its fingerprints on the murder weapon. texas governor rick perry is equally dramatic.

>> what has worked very well for scouting and to have popular culture impact 100 years of their standards is inappropriate. >> but this isn't about a fad or popular culture. scouting membership has dropped 21% since the supreme court upheld the gay ban in 2000. adult membership is down 14%. and there are almost 13% fewer scouting units nationwide. boy scout sponsors know we're a center-left nation. people like santorum and perry pretty much by the numbers are out of step. let's turn to michael rogers, gay activist and managing director of rawstory.com. mike, good to have you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. good evening. >> the president weighing in on this, does this change anything? >> well, i think as we saw across the country when the president put out his opinion on marriage that people pay attention. he is able to use the bully pulpit to help educate americans.

i've already heard from people today who were not even aware of the ban on the boy scouts having openly gay leaders and members. so i think just from an educational perspective and the certainty of his answer when you saw, when asked it was an immediate yes, no hesitation in any way whatsoever. and i think the american people see that and take that to heart. >> when you listen to staunch conservatives like santorum and rick perry, you have to ask the question, will lifting the ban on gays destroy scouting? they believe it will. >> well, you know, if something was destroyed every time rick perry or rick santorum said that it was going to be destroyed by some cause or action, the planet would be destroyed i think at this point. >> well, why does scouting ban gays? why have they in the past? >> thing has been a real misunderstanding that by banning gay people, they're protecting things from adults with inappropriate sexual activity, t